Starcrossed
by LunarLacrimosa
Summary: A young Barricade saves tiny mechling Bumblebee, and takes him to Optimus. The war continues and Bumblebee learns how to fight, but he never forgets his savior. When the two eventually meet off world, the Autobot decides that he wants to make sure Barricade stays safe. They meet more and more frequently as the 'con rises in ranking... (eventual BeexCade, possible other pairings)
1. Chapter 1

**AN: **Okay, uhm, I'm not really sure what to say about this. This is just the prologue to a story idea, where eventually it will be Bayverse but Bee and Barricade will have a sort of relationship going on. Depending on whether or not I feel like continuing it, or it might just be a oneshot. Comments are appreciated!

**AN2:** 4/30/2014. Idk man, I just decided that I wanted to try and actually make a legit story that started out on Cybertron then went to Earth and my mind came back to this idea. So I think I'll be working on it again. Reworked the first chapter a bit, too.

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><p>Young, blue optics took in a sight that the mech's processor could barely understand. Coolant leaked down his faceplates as he held the unresponsive servo close to himself, desperately wishing for a response.<p>

Bumblebee was just old enough to understand what death meant, the finality of a mech or femme going to the Well of Sparks, leaving an empty husk of cold metal behind. Both of his creators were Autobots, and they had given Bumblebee a little Autobot brand on his chest so he could be one too. He knew of the Great War, had heard his Creators whispering about it in hushed tones when he was supposed to be in recharge, and had learned how bad it was when an Autobot named Prowl had come to request his Creators to join the fight against the Decepticons on the frontline.

His creators had difficulty leaving him, and Bumblebee hadn't wanted to be without them. Even the Autobot Prowl looked as if he wished that the order hadn't been given, but that did little to assuage Bumblebee's feelings. Bumblebee's creators placed him in one of the main day cares of Kaon, getting a close friend to let him recharge over at their home during the night.

An indecipherable amount of time later to the young mechling, and the Decepticons had made Kaon theirs.

At first, everything had been fine. The mechs and femmes working the Kaon Day Care prioritized the mechlings, femmelings, and sparklings, and surrendered to Decepticon commands. Any messages trying to leave the city were scrambled, and even most inside of the city were, too. An Autobot, designated Swiftstreak, had attempted to escape to get help from the others, but he had been trapped. The Decepticons had put the mech in the center of the town, ordering everyone out to see, including the younglings. A single blast had been shot right through his Spark chamber; a warning without words.

And now, after an attempted rebel by the heads of the Kaon Day Care, and others in the town, the Decepticons had left their relatively peaceful tactics behind. Shockwave led the Decepticons, attacking the day care first and foremost, the heart and hope of Kaon.

Bumblebee and a few others were hidden away in a secret bunker underground, and told to stay put and stay quiet. Bumblebee was one of the few small enough to fit in the ventilation systems, sent by the older younglings and those few lucky enough to be between a youngling and an adult to get them out so they could 'help'. Bumblebee never managed to make it back once he did find his way out, needing about five joors to do so in the twisting and winding passage ways.

The destruction he saw had stopped him in his tracks. The Kaon Day Care center was completely destroyed, nothing more than a pile of rubble now, and the once pristine streets were covered with the marks of battle. He could hear the sounds of plasma rounds and cannons going off, the screams of the dying and the wounded, all much too close for comfort.

All of it left a little Bumblebee shell shocked, nothing in his almost vorn had prepared him on anything to do, or anything to even feel. Scanning the rubble, he saw a familiar faceplate, and went over to the body of his favorite femme Caretaker, Starshine.

Blank, grey optics stared unseeingly up at him, faceplates twisted in a permanent scream of pain, scaring the little mechling even more than the previous sights and sounds had. Bumblebee's optics blurred, coolant starting to leak down his faceplates. Bumblebee grabbed Starshine's cold servo, hugging it as he cried.

"Come here, little mechling." A rough voice cooed, sickeningly sweet and immediately letting off alarm bells in Bumblebee's processor. "Do you want to join your Caretaker?"

Bumblebee looked up at a large black mech, fear filling his spark instinctively even before he saw the Decepticon brand on the shoulder. A Decepticon Seeker stood tall, smirking down at the mechling. A cannon was already out and powered up, pointed at him in an almost lazy manner.

"I'll help you," The mech continued, smirk widening. "You won't feel much, little one, I promise."

Bumblebee shook his head desperately, nothing but static coming out of his vocalizer as he attempted to get away from the large mech and the cannon. He backed up, tripping over Starshine's servo and falling to the ground. The mech laughed, the sound of it chilling Bumblebee to the core, and the mechling closed his optics, not wanting to see the Decepticon fire his cannon.

"Grindor!" A snarl, and both Bumblebee and Grindor looked as another mech joined them.

Bumblebee looked at the newcomer in surprise, while Grindor looked nothing but annoyed. This mech couldn't have been that many stellarcycles older than Bumblebee, still a youngling himself even though he sounded as if he should be in a larger frame. But he had the Decepticon brand, cold red optics, and energon splattered across his claws.

Grindor sneered, "What, Barricade? I'm busy."

"Shockwave wants you." Barricade reported. Both of the Decepticons looked at Bumblebee, Grindor hesitating. "I'll take care of the trash. Go."

Barricade walked over to Bumblebee, reaching down and yanking the mechling up by his arm roughly. Bumblebee was unable to stop a pained whimper from escaping; the Decepticon mechling was straining several joints. Grindor smirked at the sound, before simply nodding and transforming, leaving the two behind quickly.

Barricade watched until he couldn't see Grindor anymore, releasing Bumblebee and moving away, much to Bumblebee's shock.

"The Autobots have a back-up force, the Prime himself is here." Barricade said, as if this should explain everything to Bumblebee. He growled when Bumblebee just looked at him with confusion, "I'm taking you to them, you stupid glitch! Now come on, before Grindor gets back. And stop crying, you sound horrible!"

Barricade grabbed Bumblebee's servo, giving the youngling no time to reply as he dragged him along behind. Bumblebee did his best to keep up, but kept tripping and stumbling over the rubble in his way. Bumblebee wiped away the coolant tracks with his free servo.

For sixty kliks, Barricade never once paused or said anything, and Bumblebee didn't attempt to get the older mech to talk. Neither youngling was big enough to have an alt mode yet, and by this point ped was the easiest way to travel through the ruined city. They ran most of the time, Barricade occasionally slowing to survey the area, but never actually coming to a stop. Bumblebee tried to keep his optics closed as much as possible, or solely on Barricade's peds.

Barricade finally pulled them to a stop behind a broken wall, what was left of some random building the Decepticons or the battle between the two factions had destroyed. Both younglings were venting harshly by this time, their systems trying to get enough air flow to cool down their bodies.

Bumblebee whimpered, "That- That was Starshine! They killed Starshine!"

The reality of the Caretaker's death was just sinking in; the mechling felt as if he was going to lose what little energon he had in him. He'd already wasted too much energy in the run and when he was leaking coolant, but the suddenness of the war's horrible reality was almost too much for him to take.

"Enough of your slagging whimpering!" Barricade snapped, rounding on Bumblebee. "Acting like a sparkling won't get you anywhere."

Bumblebee was shocked into silence, staring at Barricade as the tiny Decepticon turned back around to make sure they were safe. Bumblebee looked at the ground, almost ashamed in the face of the more experienced youngling. How many battlefields had he already seen? How many times had this mechling seen death, or nearly died himself?

"I'm Bumblebee." Bumblebee said after about a klik of silence, "Thank you for helping me."

"Barricade." Barricade replied, before sneering. "And don't thank me yet, we haven't made it to the Autobots."

Cold red optics turned to Bumblebee, a clawed servo flexing into a fist with irritation. Bumblebee looked at Barricade with awe. This gave him something to focus on besides the terrible reality surrounding them, and Bumblebee clung to the idea of finding out about the mysterious youngling with almost hysteric joy.

"How are you in the war?" Bumblebee asked, optics drifting to the Decepticon symbol on Barricade's chestplates.

"I'm older than you," Barricade replied shortly.

"By a few stellarcycles, maybe! How can you just walk through all of this without a shutter of your optic?"

It was almost scary how unaffected Barricade seemed by anything. The only emotion Bumblebee could discern from the older youngling was anger, and that was only by his voice, or the way his optics lit a deeper shade of red.

"This isn't a time for questions, glitch." Barricade growled, "The Autobots are near. Get moving before I decide to let Grindor have you."

Bumblebee frowned, but somehow he knew Barricade wouldn't let the other mech have him that easily. He reached out his servo for Barricade to take again, but the young Decepticon snarled and batted it away this time. Bumblebee caught a whimper before it could escape, knowing he had to try to not act like such a sparkling if he didn't want left behind. Bumblebee followed after Barricade, never once thinking that the older mech could be leading him into danger.

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><p>Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots, removed his Energon sword from the dead husk of a Decepticon seeker. His faceplates twisted in disgust, the seekers were little more than cannon fodder to Megatron with their great number. He sent them into battle even if an air move wasn't strategic, only keeping his most valuable safe.<p>

Around him laid the dead bodies of several more Decepticons. The young Prime was getting used to killing by now, but each lost Spark would forever leave an impression on him.

"Prime."

Startled, Optimus looked around when he heard his designation called. He had ordered Ironhide, his Weapons Specialist and bodyguard, away when Ratchet, the Chief Medical Officer, was under attack. He was by himself, but few dared to take him on unless they had a number of three or more. His optics fell on a yellow youngling, standing in the middle of the battlefield with a confused look on his faceplates. The yellow youngling had an Autobot brand, identifying which faction his Creators belonged to, at least.

"Keep him."

Optimus realized the voice was coming from a pair of red optics, and he knew full well it was a Decepticon. Almost all of them had red optics, and the way the mechling was attempting to hide was a big giveaway. Another youngling, only discernibly older from the yellow one by his voice, was attempting to use his black paint scheme to blend into the shadows, and failing at it. He could just make out the Decepticon brand, and he looked between the yellow and black younglings.

The yellow youngling turned to the red optics, whimpering. "Can't you sta-"

"For Pit's sake, shut up!" The black youngling snarled, and Optimus blinked in surprise, but the yellow youngling hardly seemed phased by it. Red optics turned to Optimus, "I charge you with his protection now."

Optimus nodded, reaching down and picking the yellow youngling up in his servos. It struck the Prime as odd that a Decepticon had gone so far out of his way to save an Autobot, but he was happy with the outcome. Perhaps it was due to their age; the older mechling probably hadn't wanted to see somemech so young meet their end.

The tiny mechling leaned against his chestplates, both of them watching as the red optics disappeared. Optimus very nearly lost the Decepticon mechling completely, and Bumblebee had lost Barricade as soon as he could no longer see the tale tell red optics.

"What is your designation, little one?" Optimus asked softly, peering down at the yellow mechling in his arms. Bright blue optics looked back at him, perfect mirrors of the fear and misery the youngling was experiencing on the inside.

"Bumblebee. My creators are Nexus and Platen." The mechling responded instantly, a spark of hope and happiness lighting up his optics.

Optimus felt his spark sink a little, remembering seeing the names on the death toll that Prowl had brought him a few solar cycles before. Bumblebee took the silence hard, optics filling with coolant tears.

"I am so sorry, Bumblebee. They are with Primus now." Optimus said sadly, holding the sad lump of mechling close. He wasn't too surprised when the coolant started to flow freely, stroking the tiny doorwings to try to comfort the mechling as he cried.

"I think your little friend wanted you to be here with us," The Prime said, shifting the mechling in his arms. "So you can stay, if you'd like."

Bumblebee nodded sadly, he no longer had anything else to return to, after all. Even the mechling who had protected him was long gone. Optimus held him close, moving so that his servos hid the youngling from sight and gave him a sense of protection.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: **I'm not entirely too sure how I plan to space out the timespan in this just yet. I obviously wanted to cover Bumblebee's rescue with Barricade and then the mechling being introduced and taken in by the Autobots, but after that I probably won't have much on Cybertron outside of Megatron ripping out his vocal chords and the Allspark being sent off world.

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><p>Optimus Prime walked into Iacon city with a heavy spark, mourning the loss of Kaon to the Decepticons. The Decepticons had sequestered the city-state as their own; it was much too late for the Autobots to do anything more than rescue what and who they could. It was too late for there to be much rescuing at all, and that would bother the Prime for several orns.<p>

The Prime walked straight for the Autobase, as many of his faction had started to call it, although it had originally been the Academy of Science and Technology. The main building was large and spacious, with many separate and smaller but just as useful buildings surrounding it; the Academy had suited Autobot needs perfectly, and Optimus had deemed Iacon to essentially be the Autobot capital, although it wasn't the only Cybertronian city-state that they had under their control or at least loyal to them.

Optimus walked slowly, with a purpose. He kept his battle mask down and a servo cradled to his chassis; feigning hurt and an unwillingness to talk should any mech and femme try to stop him. He wasn't hurt at all, though. In his servo he cradled Bumblebee, shielding the little mechling from the outside world. The youngling was bigger than his servo, but the Prime remained slightly hunched, hitching his shoulder joint up and down a little to feign injury and hide the mechling from view. The only way that Bumblebee would be seen was if somebot got close enough, and Optimus didn't plan to let that happen.

After everything the youngling had been through it hadn't surprised the Prime at all that he had lost enough energy to just fall asleep in his care, and it warmed his spark a bit whenever he looked at the mechling's sleeping form. He wanted to make sure that the little mechling could remain asleep and somewhat peaceful. If he had to wake up he would be plagued once more by reality; it pained Optimus almost too much to see one so innocent cry over a loss greater than he should bear.

He made his way to one of the buildings off the main part of the Autobase. It was now the Medbay, and the Prime was only somewhat hesitant to face his CMO. Ironhide had reported back to him that the medic had been more than capable of handling everything by himself; apparently he'd taken down all five of the Decepticons that had been sent to corner him while he was alone, but that meant that Ratchet would be furious at the Prime for sending his own bodyguard away.

He knocked on the Medbay door, already opening it with his free servo even as he did so. Optimus had to duck under the archway as he came in, but he was able to straighten up soon enough, helm almost brushing against the ceiling. Ratchet stood over an occupied berth, not even sparing his Prime a look, and he could read the annoyance in the medic's posture.

The femme that Ratchet was working on had a hole directly through her spark chamber, optics offlined, and Optimus bowed his head in silence for a klik to honor her. After that he continued to wait in silence, realizing after a breem that the medic wasn't too focused on his work; he was being ignored.

It had been a rocky relationship from the start for the two of them. While Ratchet's reputation had been widespread even before the war had officially started, and once it had kicked off both Megatron and Optimus had immediately gone for the skilled mech. If it hadn't been for the simple fact that Ratchet didn't agree with the Decepticon ideology, then the mech probably wouldn't be with the Autobots. Outside of the main points, the medic and his Prime tended to disagree on most things. Ratchet was pessimistic in his view of the war; from the start he had told the Prime that his dreams of having few casualties, little time spent fighting, and still enough materials left afterwards to rebuild was a sparkling-like notion.

It was only recently, after nearly two metacycles of fighting, that the Prime had relinquished his sparkling-like dreams. After that he had promoted Ratchet to his current rank, Chief Medical Officer, and while they still fought they both attempted to be more civil. However, they had had another large fight just after the medic had achieved his rank, exactly over what Ratchet was doing now. The Prime couldn't stand the thought of salvaging parts from the dead Cybertronians they retrieved, but the medic insisted on it.

After they fought, Ratchet would never address Optimus first unless he was seriously injured. The normally vocal mech would stay completely silent unless spoken to, courteous and polite in honor of the Prime's ranking only. It pained and pleased the Prime at the same time; usually he was more than happy for the mech's silence after one of their fights, however the further and further they got into the terrible war the more he was relying on Ratchet's advice.

"I require your expertize," Optimus stated, sliding his battle mask to its' resting state. The medic hated when the Prime used it, so Optimus removed it as a sort of peace offering.

"If you would be so kind as to go see First Aid, I would be very grateful." Ratchet replied, polite without fault but tone completely neutral. "I understand that you may be hurt, but it isn't serious from a glance, and I am busy."

"Actually…" The Prime moved his servo, revealing the precious cargo. "I would like you to look at this mechling."

Blue optics immediately searched out the tiny mechling, Ratchet setting down the tools he had been using on the femme to instead move closer to his Prime. While the medic had started training First Aid in medicine, the Protectobot was nowhere near as good as he. The CMO wouldn't allow the medic-in-training to salvage dead frames for parts or touch any of the more serious cases unless he was there. Had the Prime thought that the CMO had bothered to teach First Aid anything about the difference between younglings and a full grown mech or femme, he would have gone to the kinder and gentler of the two instead.

It did comfort the Prime some to see that his CMO immediately set aside his work at the mere mention of the mechling, whereas he had been ignoring his leader up until that point. Ratchet motioned to an empty berth, Optimus following the silent order and setting Bumblebee down on it as gently as he could, using his digits to straighten the tiny mechling out a bit.

It was almost amusing to see how tiny Bumblebee was compared to the berth. The Medbay held several berths that could fit somemech of even his size or Ironhide's frame, and so it dwarfed the tiny youngling completely. Ratchet wasn't daunted by the mechling's young frame, though. He set right to work on bustling about the Medbay, finding a wire small enough that would allow him to easily access the youngling's system without putting too much strain on him. The CMO attached it to the port on the back of Bumblebee's neck, sliding the other end into a secret compartment on his wrist. His helm tilted to the side and his optics switched to a deep blue, but Optimus was used to seeing the medic go into such a state by now.

"His energy level is too low," Ratchet informed his Prime dutifully, "About 60%. He's not in a danger zone, but I'd like to keep him under until we can get him back to around 90%. From what my initial scans are telling me his processor has been taxing itself quite a lot; did you find him being attacked or nearly so?"

"No," The Prime denied, "He's the spark of Nexus and Platen."

"Ah…" Ratchet muttered thoughtfully, picking up one of Bumblebee's arms and examining it.

The Prime looked as well, noticing now that the mechling had managed to scrape his arm quite deeply, the paint nearly all gone in a line. He watched as the CMO examined the scrape carefully, most likely seeing if it was an actual injury or not, and then letting a servo travel to the Autobot brand and brush against it. The Prime had seen the medic work on many different mechs and femmes; it was rare that Ratchet was ever gentle.

"The rest of the Kaon younglings have been reported dead or missing," Ratchet said, and had it not been such devastating news the Prime might have taken a moment to be amazed by the sadness in his voice.

"We were told of an underground bunker," Optimus' battle mask slid over his face reflexively, the Prime doing his best to keep his tone neutral. "Surely some of them must still be there."

Ratchet shook his helm, "No. A rescue unit was sent down, but it turns out that none of the builders had actually helped make it. There was no support system and it caved in. Our men were killed, along with any Decepticons and younglings that were down there."

Optimus his helm once more, the sadness washing over his spark and making his energon tank churn. The CMO said nothing, allowing the Prime his time of mourning for all those lost in Kaon. The medic continued his examination of Bumblebee, taking the time to thoroughly go over the mechling before disconnecting from him.

"His spark could probably handle a frame upgrade," Ratchet remarked, "It'd be a bit soon, but the supplies might not last, and it will be easier to deal with a near mech than a mechling. His spark is strong and healthy; his processor is already recuperating. He's taken the news of his parent's loss well; his spark never even registered their connection snapping."

"They'd been apart for a long time," Optimus agreed. "I'm thankful in a way for that. It made their loss easier for him to bare. But do you really think that the best idea for one so young?"

"What's his name?" Ratchet asked, diverting the conversation for a moment as he turned to his Prime. "If you didn't find him being attacked or nearly so, nor down in the underground bunker or with a Caretaker, then how did you get him?"

"His designation is Bumblebee," Optimus watched his CMO carefully, knowing that he was avoiding the question for a reason. "He was brought to me, actually. By a Decepticon mechling."

It was rare that Optimus got to see Ratchet surprised by anything, but the way the medic's optics widened revealed how much he was by this. The Prime allowed himself a small smile behind his battle mask; he had been surprised by the Decepticon mechling's actions as well. Even more than the surprise was that it gave him hope. Perhaps, if the mechling could escape, he would defect. Maybe Bumblebee would one day have his savior as a friend without the two being in opposite factions.

"All the more reason to have him upgraded, then." Ratchet said finally, "Shockwave will not be pleased if word of Bumblebee's rescue ever reaches him. That mechling made a foolish mistake."

"He saved Bumblebee life!" Optimus snapped, barely stopping himself from growling at the CMO.

"I didn't say it wasn't for a good cause," Ratchet responded gently, not backing down but at the same time attempting to placate his Prime. "However, you must realize as I do, the mechling will be killed if not tortured. Shockwave will see it as treason and Megatron won't care to stop him, the Decepticon in question a mechling or not. And if Shockwave finds out what Bumblebee looks like, if he somehow finds his way into the youngling's processor to do so…"

Optimus felt his spark give a painful clench, "Shockwave will search for him and try to make an example out of him."

"Indeed," Ratchet nodded, "That is why, as I mentioned before, we should upgrade him while the materials are available to us. It will take about three orns, but I can create his body with some help from Perceptor. Ironhide can help with a suitable weapon for the frame."

"A weapon?" Optimus repeated in utter disbelief, "We are not sending him into battle!"

"Don't fool yourself, Prime." Ratchet turned his optics down to look at the peacefully sleeping mechling, "No spark is safe from this war. He deserves to have some assurance of safety; we cannot possibly be there for him all the time and if things go badly… I'm sure Jazz would be overjoyed to teach him how to be quite and deadly. Ironhide will teach him how to safely use the weapon, and I can teach him how to try and avoid deadly blows and some short field work in case he ever is injured."

"He is only a mechling," Optimus said weakly, putting his servos on the berth Bumblebee laid on and staring down at him in mild horror.

But Ratchet was right. As much as he hated it, the Prime knew his CMO was right. If Shockwave ever did get wind of what the mechling did somehow, then Bumblebee would become a target. Even if Megatron's crazed scientist didn't, it was still too dangerous for a mechling. They wouldn't be able to fit him into an adult frame, his spark was still too young and it would never take to it, but they could at least upgrade him to the in between and teach him how to survive. Everything the medic had said about them teaching Bumblebee how to do it, though, that was just the CMO trying to make the Prime feel better. The chances of the mechling actually being able to stay with him…

"I'll help you convince Prowl and Ironhide that he should stay with us," Ratchet spoke softly, and the Prime looked up into those bright blue optics, knowing that somehow the CMO could read him far better then was safe.

They might fight more than the Prime wanted, but in the end he knew that Ratchet was looking out for every single mech and femme that he could. Wanting to upgrade Bumblebee even though the mechling was still a bit too young for it was just one such example; even if Optimus couldn't completely bring himself to agree with it.

"Thank you," Optimus replied, meaning it.


End file.
